'Pokemon Go' app updated to limit functionality while driving

The companies behind the popular smartphone app "Pokemon Go" on Nov. 7 updated it to limit the app's functionality when users are driving, following repeated incidents of people playing the game while behind the wheel.

"Pokemon Go" is a game where players move around while capturing game characters, using real-time GPS tracking to navigate. There have been numerous accidents involving users playing the game while driving a car or riding a bicycle. In one case a man driving a truck while playing the app ran over and killed a boy. In another, a video of a tour bus driver accessing a "PokeStop" -- a resupply spot in the game -- while behind the wheel was posted to YouTube. The bus was not carrying passengers at the time.

The update, implemented by U.S. firm Niantic Inc. and Minato Ward, Tokyo-based The Pokemon Co., prevents users from accessing PokeStops when traveling over a certain speed.

According to The Pokemon Co., in October it updated the app so that Pokemon creatures would not appear if the user was traveling over a set speed.